Pegg's 'World's End' serves up its fair share of laughs

Friday

Aug 30, 2013 at 6:00 AM

By JANE HORWITZ, The Washington Post Writers Group

"THE WORLD'S END" R — Not as thoroughly riotous as "Shaun of the Dead" (R, 2004) or "Hot Fuzz" (R, 2007), but still serving up lots of laughs, this movie by the same cadre of witty Brits makes a fitting end to a wacked-out trilogy. "The World's End" is OK for most high-schoolers, though it does involve much alcohol and cussing, plus, in later scenes, fantasy/horror violence. Simon Pegg (Scotty in the recent, PG-13-rated "Star Trek" films), who co-wrote the movie with director Edgar Wright, plays Gary King, a 40-ish alcoholic ne'er-do-well. Gary's happiest memories are of a 1990 high-school pub crawl with his buds. He decides to get them all back together for another go at it. The others have become staid and bourgeois, but they agree to come. So Gary meets up with Andy (Nick Frost), Steven (Paddy Considine), Oliver (Martin Freeman) and Peter (Eddie Marsan) in their drab suburban hometown of Newton Haven to finish the binge they got too drunk to complete years before. They must drink at all 12 of the town's pubs and finish at one called The World's End. Old gripes and rivalries crop up, and later so do odd-acting townsfolk not unlike the alien-possessed people in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956; PG-rated remake in 1978).

THE BOTTOM LINE: Crude language and profanity lace the dialogue, and the characters drink themselves blotto. There is mildish sexual innuendo. SPOILER ALERT: The last third of the film features horror-style violence, including the skull-shattering, beheading and be-arming of alien-possessed humans who bleed blue and whose heads crack like pottery.

"GETAWAY" PG-13 — Much rubber gets burned in this mega-car-chase thriller, and teens who appreciate visually exciting action flicks may find it pretty gripping. "Getaway" showcases terrific stunt driving and ingenious high-speed editing, including a long chase sequence that appears to be one single choreographed shot. But whenever the souped-up Ford Shelby GT500 Super Snake driven by Ethan Hawke's character slows down and he interacts with miscast co-star Selena Gomez, the movie stalls. Hawke plays Brent Magna, a former race car driver whose recklessness killed his career. We meet him in that car, blasting dangerously through the streets of Sofia, Bulgaria, where he has moved to start afresh with his wife (Rebecca Budig), who has roots there. In flashbacks we learn that their apartment was invaded and his wife taken hostage. Under orders from an anonymous Voice (Jon Voight) on cellphone and car computer, Brent speeds through crowded parks and plazas and evades the cops, all so The Voice won't kill his wife. At one point, as he's stopped in an empty lot, an armed teen (Selina Gomez) tries to carjack him. He's ordered by The Voice to take her gun and keep her in the car. We learn that the girl has a connection to the vehicle, and that The Voice has a larger plan. The movie suffers badly from its nonvisual elements — a weak script and Gomez's lightweight presence.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The many car chases appear massively destructive, with police and civilian cars flying into the air and crashing. We don't see other drivers hurt or killed, but it's hard to imagine the body count isn't high. Anonymous bad guys do seem to get hurt when gunplay occurs later in the film. Brent's wife is roughed up but not seriously injured. The script includes moderate profanity.

"CLOSED CIRCUIT" R — Everyone has seen, read or heard about the closed circuit security cameras that dot the streets of London even more prevalently than in American cities. So a thriller based on that fact seems like a cool concept. It's just that "Closed Circuit" loses its way, with thudding dialogue, too-obvious plot twists, and a humorless star in Eric Bana. Even so, some high-schoolers may find the film's intellectual approach fresh and challenging. The film starts ferociously, with a truck bomb exploding in a busy London shopping area, killing 120 people — recorded on security cameras. Bana plays Martin Rose, an arrogant defense attorney brought in to argue in court on behalf of the Turkish man (Denis Moschitto) charged with the crime. Another defense attorney, Claudia (Rebecca Hall), has clearance to view the government's classified evidence, but cannot show it to Rose.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Graphic injuries are not shown following the bombing, but the scene is deeply unsettling. A prisoner is shown hanged in his cell, but it isn't suicide. The accused man's young son is stalked by anonymous killers, as are Claudia and Rose, but any brief mayhem is not graphic. High-schoolers who find the subject of terrorism too upsetting should stay away. The dialogue contains occasional strong profanity.